Zipper foot device



Dec. 14, 1965 BRENNER ZIPPER FOQT DEVICE Original Filed Jan. 17, 1964Abe Brenner yaw ATTORNEY United States Patent 25,945 ZIPPER FOOT DEVICEAbe Brenner, 255 W. 23rd St., New York, N.Y. Original No. 3,140,680,dated July 14, 1964, Ser. No. 338,413, Jan. 17, 1964. Application forreissue May 20, 1965, Ser. No. 463,980

8 Claims. (Cl. 112151) Matter enclosed in heavy brackets I: appears inthe original patent but forms no part of this reissue specification;matter printed in italics indicates the additions made by reissue.

This invention relates to a sewing machine presser foot and, inparticular, to a zipper foot for use in sewing a zipper and materialtogether.

Despite the apparent ease with which a seam is sewn to connect a zipperto a strip of material, the better seamstresses and the more exclusive,and better garment manufacturers have always recognized that the sewingof a zipper to material has been a real and time consuming problem ifthe sewing is to be done accurately and properly. To understand theproblem better, the uninitiated must realize that a zipper serves toclose a separation in a garment. Therefore, when the zip-per is sewninto the garment, the separation which the zipper is to close mustassume the appearance of a closed seam which is usually the continuationof an adjacent seam. If too much material overlaps its respective row ofgripper elements of its side of the zipper, or if the seam or stitchingconmeeting the zipper to the material is uneven, when the zipper isclosed the overlapping material puckers and creates an unsightlyappearance. On the other band, should there be too little overlap of thematerial over the zipper elements, the beauty of the garment is lessenedby the exposure of the zipper.

There have been attempts in the past to remedy the problem of sewingzippers correctly to garments and other material. An example of this isfound in the well known single zipper foot. The single zipper foot ismerely a halving of a standard sewing machine presser foot. The half ofthe presser foot that remains is narrowed in width to fit between thesewing needle and the zipper to press downward against the material tobe sewn to the zipper. This prior attempt, the only real attempt tosolve the problem, constitutes no solution at all. This half zipper footperforms no guiding function. It exerts no control over the zipper orits row of gripper elements, nor does it limit or guide the material inits movement beneath the sewing machine needle during the sewingoperation.

The prior art has failed to recognize the need to enable the adjustmentand the control of the amount of material that will overlap the zippergripper elements to which it is to be sewn; the need to hold thematerial and the zipper in their adjusted relationship; the necessity ofcausing them to move along a controlled pathway to the point where theyare sewn or seamed together by the sewing needle, and the necessity ofassuring that the material and the zipper will not shift position withrespect to each other during their movement along their sewing pathway.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to overcome theaforementioned problems of the prior art by providing a zipper footdevice that does recognize the stated problems and solves them by asimple and inexpensive zipper foot construction. A construction thatdoes not require complex mechanisms, that does not require mechanicalskills for its operation, and that can be used by inexperienced sewingmachine operators to accurately and consistently sew a zipper to anymaterial or garment without the necessity of tearing open the seam andredoing the same to insure the accuracy of the zipper stitching.

In carrying out the objects of the invention, a feature and objectthereof resides in the ability to adjustably con- Reissuecl Dec. 14,1965 "ice trol the amount of material that will overlap the zipperelements and to enable the same to be sewn straight and accurately tothe zipper throughout a given length thereof.

Other and further objects of this invention reside in the structures andarrangements hereinafter more fully described with reference to theaccompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the sewing machine presser foot andslidable member constructed according to the teaching of the invention,

FIG. 2 is a cross-section of FIG. 1 taken along lines 2-2, and

FIG. 3 is a cross-section of FIG. 1 taken along lines 33.

Referring now to the figures of the drawing, the zipper foot device orstructure there shown is generally identified by the numeral 10. Thezipper foot device 10 comprises a zipper foot member 12 and a slidablymovable block or material limiting member 14 that is adapted to rest onthe bed or top surface 16 of a sewing machine (not shown). The specificdetails of the sewing machine other than the sewing needle 18illustrated in FIG. 1 and depicted by the dash-dot lines in FIG. 3 arenot fully disclosed because the same form no part of the presentinvention. The illustration of the sewing needle 18 is made to enable aclearer understanding of the instant invention.

The zipper foot member 12 is provided with an upstanding body 19 that isusually adapted to be inserted into and as a part of the sewing machineand to be secured in place thereto. The foot member 12 is reciprocatedby the seamstress to engage the material therebeneath prior to thesewing operation of the needle 18. The zipper foot member 12 has twosubstantially horizontally disposed elongated legs or feet 20 and 22. Inpractice, the leg 20 is slightly longer in length than that of the leg22. However, each of the legs 20 and 22 has a respective fiat underside24 and 26 that is adapted to rest on the material or fabric to be sewnby the needle 18. The legs 20 and 22 have a separation 28 definedbetween them to accommodate the reciprocating sewing needle 18.

The horizontal leg 22 is provided with .a guide pathway or groove 30 atthe lower corner thereof remote from the separation 28. The pathway orgroove 30 projects upward into the leg 22 and has an edge 31 positionedat the underside or base 26 thereof. The guide pathway or groove 30extends for the full length of the leg 22. A second or upper edge 32 ispositioned on the side 33 which is located most remote from theseparation 28 and spaced above the underside 26. The upper edge 32 alsoextends for the full length of the leg 22. The pathway or groove 30,defined at its bottom and side by the lower edge 31 and the upper edge32 respectively, has an entrance that is located at the raised forwardend 34 of the leg 22. The groove 30 exits at 36 at the rear of the leg22. The surface of the guide pathway or groove 30 is defined by anupwardly curved portion 38 extending from the lower edge 31 upward intothe leg 22 and merging with a substantially flat curved portion 40. Theflat curved portion 40 merges with and terminates in a downwardly curvedlip 42 that ends at the upper edge 32 on the side 33 of the leg 22.

Positioned along the side 33 of the leg 22 is the slidable limitingmember 14 as seen in FIGS. 1 and 3. The member 14 is provided with avertically disposed flat limiting guide surface 44 that is adapted toabut the surface 33 or to be adjustably spaced therefrom. In theillustration in FIGS. 1 and 2, the surface 44 is shown in abuttingrelationship with the adjacent side surface 33. However, in practice,the member 14 may be slidably moved with respect to the surface 33 andthe edge 32 defined thereon to vary the sidewise extent of the pathwayor groove 30 to define an extension and an adjustable side thereof.

To permit this relative movement, the member 44 is provided with anelongated slot 46 in which a threaded thumb screw 48 is rotatable. Thethumb screw 48 passes downward through a suitable opening defined in amounting plate 50 that is secured at 52 to the zipper foot member 12.The thumb screw 48 is adapted to be threadingly engaged in a suitablethreaded opening (not shown) aligned therewith in the bed 16 of thesewing machine. Thus, by loosening the thumb screw 48, the member 14 maybe releasably secured to be moved relative to the adjacent side 33 ofthe leg 22 from the abutting position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 to aposition spaced therefrom as permitted by the length of the slot 46.When once the member 14 is adjusted into its desired position, thesimple threading of the thumb screw 48 downward into the mating openingin the bed 16 of the sewing machine will lock the member 14 in itsposition of adjustment.

In operation, a length of fabric material 54 is generally folded overupon itself as shown in FIG. 1 to overlay a respective row of alignedgripper elements 56 of one side of a zipper 58. The seamstress selectsthe proper amount of overlap of the material 54 that is desired tosmoothly cover the row of zipper gripper elements 56. The material 54and the zipper 58 are then positioned beneath the zipper foot 12 so thatthe gripper elements 56 are located directly beneath the pathway 30 withthe material 54 positioned between the surface of the pathway 30 and thegripper elements 56 therebelow. The pathway 30 is so defined as toconform substantially to the shape of the gripper elements 56 when thematerial 54 is positioned thereover. This is shown more clearly in FIG.3 wherein it is noted that the shape of the groove conformssubstantially to that of the material 54 and the gripper elements 56after the same is pressed tightly against the zipper gripper elementstherebelow by the pressure of the zipper foot 12 thereon.

The limiting member 14 is then adjusted relative to the side 33 topermit just the right or desired amount of the material 54 to extendbeyond the lip 42 and the lower edge 32 thereof. Thus, the relativeposition or spacing of the member 14 with respect to the side 33controls the amount of material 54 that will overlap the zipper elements56 as the same are guided to the sewing needle 18 that sews the sametogether as indicated by the stitches 60 in FIG. 3.

During the sewing operation, the lip 42 presses the material 54 downtightly against the rounded corners of the gripper elements 56therebeneath. The edge 32, however, permits the material to extend inoverlapping relationship with the gripper elements beyond the side 33.The location of the surface 44 on the limiting member 14 with respect tothe side 33 limits the amount of material that will extend beyond thelip 42 and its edge 32, thereby controlling the amount of overlap ofmaterial. Naturally, if the material 54 is heavy, the space between thesur' faces 44 and 33 will be greater than if the material is light asshown in FIG. 3.

The substantially flat curved surface portion 40 conforms substantiallyto the shape of the material 54 positioned over the gripper elements 56,and presses the same downwardly thereagainst as illustrated in FIG. 3.The conforming upwardly curved portion 38 and the lower edge 31 hold thematerial 54 tightly against the adjacent sharp edges of the gripperelements 56 while the underside 26 of the leg 22 and the second leg 20provide sufficient force on the material and the fabric of the zipper 58to hold the same in their relative relationship as shown. To facilitatethe convenient entry of the material and gripper elements into thegroove or pathway 30, the entrance thereof is provided at the raisedforward end 34 of the leg 22 and the material 54 is gradually presseddown snugly into engagement with the gripper elements 56 as they enterthe groove as shown in FIG. 2.

Thus, the present invention constitutes a simple yet extremely efiicientzipper foot device. It retains the twoleg 20, 22 concept of a standardpresser foot thereby taking advantage of the largest possible area ofpresser foot engagement with the material and the zipper to hold thesame together as they are being sewn. The contour and arrangement of thepathway 30 defined in the one leg 22 conforms to that of the materialand the gripper elements therebeneath to assure that they will remain in[sung] snug engagement with each other. This manner of engagementprevents their relative movement from the time they enter beneath thepresser foot 22 and are sewn by the needle 18 and thereafter exittherefrom at the rear end 36. The adjustment of the member 14 relativeto the edge 32 and side 33 permits the overlap of material and gripperelements to be varied. When once varied, this overlap is continuouslyretained by the movement of the material and gripper elements along thepathway 30.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out thefundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferredembodiment thereof, it will be understood that various omissions andsubstitutions and changes in the form and details of the deviceillustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in theart, without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is theintention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope ofthe claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. In a zipper foot device for sewing a zipper and material together,the combination comprising a [pair of] substantially horizontal [legs]leg having [a separation] an opening defined [therebetween] therein toaccommodate a reciprocating sewing needle therein, one side of saidhorizontal [legs] leg having a groove of uniform shape defined thereinextending the length of said [one leg] side along the lower corner whichis remote from said [separation] opening. said groove having a loweredge along the bottom of said one side of mid horizontal leg in the samehorizontal plane as the bottom of the [other of the pair of] horizontal[legs] leg and an upper edge along that side of said one horizontal legwhich is most remote from said [separation] opening, the definingsurface of said groove curving upwardly from said lower edge andextending into a curved portion which terminates at said upper edge, thesurface of said groove forming a guide to press material against gripperelements of a zipper to be sewn thereto as the material and gripperelements are moved beneath the sewing needle during the operation of thesewing machine, limiting means on the side of said one horizontal legadjacent said upper edge for movement relative to said groove, and meansto releasably secure said limiting means to said zipper foot andrelative to said groove.

2. In a zipper foot device for sewing a row of gripper elements of azipper to material in a sewing machine, the combination comprising a[pair of] substantially horizontal [legs spaced from] leg receiving areciprocating sewing needle therein, an elongated groove of uniformshape defined in [one of] said horizontal leg along the lower cornerthereof which is remote from said reciprocating needle, said groovehaving a lower edge and an upper edge, said lower edge being on theunderside of said [one] horizontal leg in the same horizontal plane asthe bottom of the [other of the pair of] horizontal [legs] leg and saidupper edge being on [the] one side of said [one] horizontal leg which isremote from said reciprocating needle, said groove being defined by awall curving upwardly from said lower edge and terminating in adownwardly depending lip located at said upper edge, the surface of saidwall defining said groove pressing the material to be sewn against therow of gripper elements of a zipper to be sewn thereto, said downwardlydepending lip engaging an edge of the material to be sewn to restrictthe movement of said material to a predetermined distance beyond the rowof zipper gripper elements, said defining wall of said groove guidingthe material and the row of zipper [gipper] gripper elements along thefull length of the groove as the material and zipper [gipper] gripperelements are moved beneath the sewing needle during the operation ofsaid sewing machine, limiting means engaging the side of said [one]horizontal leg adjacent said upper edge for movement relative thereto,and means to releasably engage said limiting means with said side ofsaid [one] horizontal leg and for movement relative to said upper edge.

3. In a zipper foot device for a sewing machine, the combinationcomprising a pair of substantially horizontal legs relatively spacedfrom each other to define a separation therebetween for theaccommodation of a reciprocating sewing needle therein, one of saidhorizontal legs having a groove of uniform shape defined therein alongthe lower corner thereof which is remote from said separa' tion andextending for the full length thereof, one edge of said groove being onthe underside of said one horizontal leg in the same horizontal plane asthe underside of the other of the pair of horizontal legs, another edgeof said groove being on a side of said one horizontal leg which isfarthest from said separation, the surface of said groove extending fromsaid lower edge, being curved upward, and terminating in a downwardlydirected lip at said other edge and extending for the full length ofsaid one horizontal leg, said groove surface forming a guide along thelength of said one horizontal leg to press material to a row of gripperelements of a zipper to be sewn thereto, said downwardly depending lipengaging an edge of the material to be sewn to restrict the movement ofthe material to a predetermined position relative to said row of zippergripper elements, said groove having an entrance and an exit at oppositeends thereof so that as the material and gripper elements are movedbeneath the zipper foot to be sewn by a sewing needle movable in saidseparation, said portions of said groove surface engagingly guide themovement of the material and the zipper gripper elements along the fulllength of the groove from the entrance to the exit thereof, means onsaid farthest side of said one horizontal leg for movement relativethereto, and means to releasably engage said last named means with saidfarthest side of said one horizontal leg.

4. A zipper foot device for use in a sewing machine for sewing a zipperto material, the combination comprising a [pair of] substantiallyhorizontal [legs] leg positioned adjacent to and on opposite sides of areciprocating sewing needle, a groove of uniform shape on the underside[of one] of said horizontal [legs] leg extending the length thereof,said groove having an entrance and an exit at opposite ends thereof,said groove having a lower edge in the same horizontal plane as thebottom of the [other of the pair] horizontal [legs] leg and an edgeremote from said reciprocating sewing needle, the defining surface ofsaid groove curving upwardly from said lower edge and merging with asubstantially flat curved portion which merges with a downwardly curvedportion terminating at said edge remote from said reciprocating sewingneedle, said surface of said groove forming a guide for the material tobe sewn to press the same tightly against a row of gripper elements of azipper to be sewn thereto so that as the material and zipper are movedby the sewing machine beneath the zipper foot during the sewingoperation, the groove surface guides the movement of the material andthe zipper in fixed relationship along the full length of the groovefrom the entrance to the exit thereof, means movable relative to said[one] horizontal leg on the side adjacent said remote edge thereof, andmeans to connect said movable means with said [one] horizontal leg in aposition of adjustment relative to said remote edge.

5. A zipper foot device for use in a sewing machine for sewing a zipperand material together, the combination comprising a pair ofsubstantially horizontal legs positioned adjacent to and on oppositesides of a reciprocating sewing needle, a groove of uniform shape on theunderside of one of said horizontal legs extending the length thereof,said groove having an entrance and an exit at opposite ends thereof,said groove having two edges on the underside of said horizontal leg,one of said edges being in the same horizontal plane as the underside ofthe other of the pair of horizontal legs, the defining surface of saidgroove curving upwardly from both of said edges, said surface of saidgroove serving to press material to be sewn against a row of gripperelements of a zipper to be sewn thereto so that as the material andzipper gripper elements are moved by the sewing machine beneath thezipper foot during the sewing operation the groove surface guides themovement of the material and the zipper gripper elements along the fulllength of the groove from the entrance to the exit thereof, movablemeans adjacent one of said edges of said groove, and means to releasablyengage said movable means with said zipper foot in a position relativeto said one of said edges to vary the spacing of said movable meanstherefrom.

6. A zipper foot device for a sewing machine comprising the combinationof a substantially horizontal leg positioned adjacent to and on oppositesides of a reciprocating sewing needle, a groove of uniform shape on theunderside of one side of said horizontal [legs]lcg extending the lengththereof, said groove having an entrance and an exit at opposite endsthereof, said groove having an edge near said reciprocating sewingneedle in the same horizontal plane as the underside of the [other ofthe pair of] horizontal [legs]leg and an edge remote from saidreciprocating sewing needle, the surface of said groove curving upwardlyfrom said edge near said reciprocating sewing needle and extending intoa substantially flat curved portion merging into a downwardly dependingportion terminating at said edge remote from said reciprocating sewingneedle, the surface of said groove forming a guide for the material tobe sewn to press the same tightly against a row of gripper elements of azipper to be sewn thereto, so that as the material and gripper elementsare moved during the operation of the sewing machine the groove surfaceguides the material and zipper gripper elements, limiting means movableadjacent to and engageable with said remote edge, and means to engagesaid limiting means with and in a position of adjustment relative tosaid remote edge.

7. In a zipper foot for a sewing machine for sewing material to a zipperhaving a row of zipper elements, a pair of substantially horizontal legsjoined together at the rear thereof and defining a separation at thefront thereof to accommodate a reciprocating sewing needle therebetween,one of said horizontal legs having a groove of uniform shape definedtherein extending for the full length thereof along the lower cornerremote from said separation defined by said horizontal legs, a loweredge of said groove being spaced from said separation defined by saidhorizontal legs and being on the underside of its respective horizontalleg in the same horizontal plane as the underside of the other of thepair of horizontal legs, an upper edge of said groove being spaced fromsaid separation and being on the side of its respective horizontal legwhich is farthest from said separation, the surface of said groove fromsaid lower edge being an upwardly curved portion extending into asubstantially flat curved portion which terminates in a downwardlycurved lip at said upper edge, said upwardly curved portion forming aguide for the material to be sewn to press the same tightly against thecorner of a row of gripper elements of a zipper to be sewn thereto, saidsubstantially flat curved portion forming a guide to press the materialtightly against the row of gripper elements, said downwardly curved lipretaining the material in engagement with a correspondingly curvedportion of the gripper elements of the zipper, said groove having anentrance and an exit at opposite ends thereof so that as the materialand gripper elements to be sewn by the sewing needle are moved by thesewing machine beneath the zipper foot and in said groove at saidentrance and therebeyond from said exit, said portions of said groovesurface guide the movement of the material and the zipper gripperelements along the full length of said groove and all of said portionsof said groove engaging the material positioned therebeneath to pressthe same against the row of zipper gripper elements therebeneath duringthe sewing operation of the sewing needle.

8. The combination of a zipper foot as in claim 7, and a slidable memberpositioned in adjustable relation to said zipper foot, said slidablemember having a flat side adjacent to said zipper foot, said slidablemember having a slot therethrough to accommodate a screw memher whichpasses through said slot to enter a threaded hole in said sewingmachine, means to connect said slidable member with said zipper foot,and a screw memher in said slot and engageable with a threaded hole inthe sewing machine to releasably secure said slidable member in itsposition of adjustment.

References Cited by the Examiner The following references, cited by theExaminer, are of record in the patented file of this patent or theoriginal patent.

UNITED STATES PATENTS FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner.

